This blog began as a description of our life in Al Ain, UAE (United Arab Emirates). Brn worked at the UAE University Libraries Deanship for three years and Bss homeschooled our four children, D, B, P, and O. After returning to the the USA for five years, we are living in Abu Dhabi now.

2005/04/20

Camels and Camel Racing

With the arrival of wealth and technology, camels aren't really needed for transportation anymore, but that doesn't mean that they aren't still important to Gulf Arabs. It is just that now they are used for racing. I personally find it hard to believe, but according to the Insight Guide to Oman and UAE, the fastest camels can run 37 mph (60 kph).

According to Ansar Burney in the Khaleej Times, there are an estimated 16,000 active racing camels and 17 tracks in the UAE, including one in Al Ain. However, the big money involved has caused a big problem: very young children have been used as jockeys in this dangerous sport:

[O]ver 40,000 children are employed in this form of labour and their ages range from one and a half-year-old to seven years and most of them are brought from Asian countries such as Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, Yemen and Sudan.

In the UAE, the government has banned using jockeys under 16. They are even developing robot jockeys to replace these young riders. The Emirates Economist has twoposts about these robot jockeys and what it might mean for jobs in the industry. Really interesting stuff.